Crash plane



P. MAYH EW CRASH PLANE Dec. 12, 1944.

Filed Aug. 19, 1941 @aziak INVENTOR ayew A ORNEYS z Patented Dec. 12,1944 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CRASH PLANE Q 3 Peter Mayhew,Barrington, R. I.

Application August 19, 1941; Serial No. 407,423

7 4 Claims.

This invention relates to a havier-than-air airplane of the fightingtype for use in warfare for the destruction of enemy apparatus such, forinstance, as battleships.

Heretofore, there has been the suicide type of attack on such objects asbattleships, in which a pilot would run an airplane or boat into theenemy's battleship with the attacking carrier I provided with enoughexplosives to damage the enemys objects. In such an attack the personguiding such attacking plane or boat wouldlose his life. The loss of thepilot in this sort of Warfare is a drawback and not one which isdesirable.

One of the objects of this invention is to provide a crash type ofwarfare without the loss of the pilot..

Another object of the invention is the provision of an explosive carrierof any desired size which may be guided toward an object to be attackedby an auxiliary airplane releasable from the main explosive carrier,after the direction of the carrier has been provided for, that the pilotwho directs the same may get away in the auxiliary plane while the maincarrier will maintain its course through gyroscopic control intoengagement with its target.

With theseand other objects in view, themvention consists of certainnovel features of construction, as will be more fully described andparticularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawing: v

Fig. l is a topplan view of the assembly of explosive carrier andairplane;

Fig.2 is a side elevation thereof;

Fig. 3 is a side elevation, partly in section, illustrating theauxiliary or get-away planes attachment to the main plane in greaterdetail;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view of one of the controlling mechanisms; 1

Fig. 5 is a sectional view illustrating another of the controlmechanisms;

Fig. 6 is a section on line 6-6 of Fig. 5;

Fig. '7 is a sectional view illustrating means for attaching the twoseparable flying units together; and h Fig. 8 is a section on line 88 ofFig. 7.

The impelling means for the main explosive carrier may consist of asmany different impelling units are are necessary, and the amount ofexplosive carriedmay be increased in difierent units depending-upon thesize ofthe carrier which may be built. A complete airplane with controlswill also be mounted on the carrier in a releasable manner, and therewill be provided means for controlling both the carrier and the completeairplane from the latter prior to disconnection of the two while agyroscope will be carried by the main explosivel'carrier for'maintainingthe controls in the set position after the separation of the two.

With reference to the drawings in greater detail, the explosive-carryingstructure is designate generally IIO, as shown in Fig.2, and theget-away complete airplane is designated generally I I. Theexplosive-carrying structure, by reason of the fact that it is notintended to carry'a' personor pilot, is thin or of shallow depth andprovides small windre sistance and therefore iscapable of great speed;it consists of leading wings l2 andtail wings l3 which are joinedtogether by" some connecting structure M such, for instance, as ashallow body} which is provided with openings l5'that the pilot of theairplane ll may look therethrough.

The leading wings provide supports fora plurality of engine units [6equipped with propellers 25 arranged in symmetrical balanced relationand also for a plurality of torpedoes or explosive units I1 also placedin symmetrical balanced arrangement and projecting beyond the forwardend of the leading wings. A rudder I9 is provided, and separatelyoperated hinged ailerons elevators. There will also be. carried astabilizing gyroscope 18 for maintainingthe controls for the engines andother movable operating mechanism of the flying unit in desired positionafter the explosive carrier and airplane are separated. Also, there arestruts 21 for supportingtake-off wheels 22 anda strut 23 forsupportingthe rear wheel 24. All of this mechanism is well known inairplane apparatus and is therefore not attempted to be illustrated indetail herein, I

The. structure so far described might be referred to asa skeleton flyingstructure as it has no cockpit for the reception of a passenger orpilot.

On the body 14 at a location near the tail or trailing. wing I3, I havemounted the complete airplane ll by means of blocks 25 providing sockets21 for each of two landing wheels 28 fo the plane H and a block 29recessed as at 30 for the landing wheel 3| of .the auxiliary or getawayplane I;. These landing wheels'have the usual truss supports. 32 and 33extending downwardly from the body 34 of the plane which has mainwings35-, tail wings 36, rudder '31, cockpit," 38, engine39, and propeller 40all of a usual well-known type of airplane construction.

Within the body or fusilage "34 there is mount.- ed support M for aU-shaped: retracting member whichis anti-frictionally'mounted on thissupport'by rollers'43 and may-be moved back and forth through link 41and lever 44 pivoted as at 45 0n the floor 46. A rod; 48 is threaded thelever 44 permitting the wing nut and rod 48 to drop downwardly throughthe support 4| and through opening 55 in the floor 46 of the air 7 planell. 7

In order to controlthe motors in the explosive carrier I0, I haveprovided an arrangement such as shown in Fig. 5, comprising a shaft 60connected by universal joint 6| to shaft 62 and connected by universaljoint 63 to shaft 64. Shaft 62 has a hand wheel 65 which, upon rotation,will rotate the shaft 64 through thisuniversally connected link 60 so asto operate pinion gear 66 and rack '61 one way or the other toaccelerate or slow down the engines 16 of the explosive carrier I0. Ihave shown only one such control connection, as all of these engines maybe operated in unison; or I may have one of such connections for thestarboard engines and another control for the port engines; or each ofthe engines may be individually controlled if de- M sired. The link 60consists of a square shaft 68 and a tube having a square bore 69 (seeFig. 6)

,for receiving the same telescopically so that these may pull apart forvertical separation ofthe plane II from the carrier l0.

In Fig. 4, I have illustrated a connecting shaft 70 comprising two partsconsisting of a square shaft TI and a telescoping shaft 12 having asquare bore 13. The universal joint 14 connects the same to a shaftl5,and universal joint 76 connects the same to shaft 11. Operating wheel18 may turn the shaft 1 to rotate the gear 19. and manipulate a quadrant80 for movement of the flexible cords 8| or 82 to operate the rudder andaileron or other manipulating control mechanism of the explosive carrierl0. "An indicator r 83 may be provided for showing the position of themechanism controlled. Upon separation of the carrier ll from the planeH], the link will slide apart as heretofore explained in connection withthe engine control for the explosive carrier. Several controls, one for'each part to be ope'r-- ated, such as shown in Fig. 4 may be providedfor controlling the different mechanisms of the explosive carrier; andthese may be arranged for operation in unison by similar controls in theairplane H, or may be separate therefrom. The

ailerons or elevators will each have one of these;

controls. A gyroscope unit will be so arranged as to maintain'thecontrols in --a set position .once they are manually moved to suchposition.

By the above arrangement the entire assembly such as shown in Figs. 1,2, and 3 may bedirected by the pilot in the cockpit 38 towards somebattleship and so directed that substantially the center of thebattleship at the boiler rooms will be struck. The elevation need beonly a short distance above the water; and it may be that a haze or fogwill exist covering the entire ship 1 with the exception of possibly itsconning towers which will be visible above the fog. The pilot of theassembly here described will thus direct this assembly toward thebattleship at the correct height and then by pulling :the release leverFor disconnection of the two 1 the battleship. A sufiicient number oftorpedoes or explosives ignitable by impact would be carried by thecarrier plane, and in sufficient numbers these explosives would destroymost any object which they contact. As the armor of the ship isincreased, the number of torpedoes would be increased, it being theobject to provide sufficient explosive to just overcome the objectagainst which the plane is directed. While this carrier plane will becompletely destroyed, it is a the optimum that the object against whichit is directed will also be destroyed, While the pilot may get away inthe auxiliary plane after he has directed the explosive carrier to itsmark.

I claim:;

1. In combination an airplane,=controls therefor comprising ailerons andrudder, driving means therefor comprising a propeller and engine, asecond airplane superimposed on the "first airplane, detachable meansfor connecting said planes together, means extending from the secondairplane to the-first airplane for operation of the controls of thefirst airplane comprising members separably telescoped together withmeans for transmitting torque movement from one to the other. 1

2. In combination an airplane, controls therefor comprising ailerons andrudder, driving means therefor comprising a propeller and engine, asecond-airplane superimposed on the first airplane, detachable means forconnecting said planes together, means extending from the secondairplane to the first airplane for operation of the controls of thefirst airplane comprising members separably telescoped together with"means for transmitting torque movement from one to the other, one ofsaid members being universally connected at one end adjacent to one ofsaid airplanes. r

, 3. In combination an airplane, controls therefor comprising aileronsand rudder, driving means therefor comprising a propeller and engine, asecond airplane superimposed on the first airplane, detachable means forconnecting said planes together, means extending from the'sec- 0ndairplane to the firstairp'lane for operation of the controls of thefirst airpl-anecomprising members separably telescoped together withuniversally connected at one end adjacent to one of said airplanesand'the other member being universally connected at its endadjacentto'the other of said airplanes. K

4. 'In combination an airplane, controls therefor comprising aileronsand rudder,

means therefor comprising .apropellerand en.- g ne, a second airplanesuperimposedcon the first airplane, detachable means for connecting aidplanes together comprising a support having spaced portions, a head onspaced positions .a link fixed to the first plane and extending intothe-second pianetbetweensaid said link and a with .drawable fork betweensaid spaced portion and :head to form a lock.

. PETERTMAYH EW.

